LA’s Metrolink plans four-day shutdown in December

Commuter train passes under signal bridge

LOS ANGELES — LA-area commuter rail operator will shut down all service for a four-day period at the end of December to allow for installation of a new signal system and other work. The service suspension is set for Tuesday, Dec. 26, through Friday, Dec. 29, and will cover the entire seven-line, five-county system, including […]

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Lionel 2023 Volume II catalog and the treasures it holds

Lionel catalog page

Lionel’s 2023 Volume II catalog came out this summer, and several of the new locomotives, pieces of rolling stock, and accessories captured my interest. Let me share the new entries that, from the perspective of a postwar enthusiast, caught my eye. Maybe something in the latest Lionel catalog will speak to you as well. Different […]

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The Mohawk that refused to abdicate

A black and white photograph from 1956 shows a large, black steam engine crossing another set of railroad tracks set at an angle while black coal smoke flls the sky

In the mid-1950s, in the waning days of steam on the New York Central, Trains Magazine Editor David P. Morgan and his friend, the accomplished photographer Philip R. Hastings, had a memorable encounter with a NYC Class L-3a 4-8-2 Mohawk in Shelby, Ohio. The Mohawk had seen better days and was assigned to a lowly […]

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SMART-TD ratifies BNSF agreement on scheduling, sick time

Logo of SMART-TD union

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — SMART-TD members have ratified a tentative agreement with BNSF Railway on scheduling and sick days reached in September, the union said Friday. Approximately two-thirds of the members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division voted in favor of the agreement, which includes paid sick days and […]

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The history of Railway Post Offices

black and white photo of railway post office

Railway Post Offices Mail moves by train In the 1830s, shortly after the establishment of the first railroads in the U.S., the Post Office Department began to ship mail by rail. The year 1838 saw some sorting of mail en route between Washington and Philadelphia, but the first Railway Post Office car is generally thought […]

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Connecticut heritage railway acquires Frisco 2-8-2

Steam locomotive on temporary track

ESSEX, Conn. — The Essex Steam Train & Riverboat, a heritage railroad operated by the Valley Railroad Co. on a former New Haven rail line, has purchased Frisco 2-8-2 No. 1352 from the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, the group restoring Reading Co. T-1 4-8-4 No. 2100. The locomotive was built by Alco in 1912 […]

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